Italians vote in referendum opposed by PM Prodi

Former PM Silvio Berlusconi, whose Centre-Right coalition championed the reforms before being ousted from power in the April elections, says they will regenerate Italy’s antiquated system of government.

Italy’s constitution was drawn up after World War II to prevent the return of a dictator like Benito Mussolini. But critics say it contains so many checks and balances that it has been hard to govern, with many administrations surviving barely a year.

The referendum gives Berlusconi a chance to reassert himself as leader of the centre-right ‘‘House of Freedoms’’ coalition after he lost the national elections and then failed to win key seats in local polls last month.

It would give Italy’s 20 regions full autonomy over health, schooling and policing, a move critics say would mean better services for richer northern regions, to the detriment of the poorer South.

It will also transform the upper house Senate into a federal, rather than national legislative body and give the PM more clout, enabling him to hire and fire ministers and dissolve parliament. This should halt the common Italian practice by which parties switch sides in mid-term and bring down a prime minister.

Prodi’s ruling Centre-Left says the changes would give too much power to the PM and weaken the role of the President, who has traditionally been an impartial arbiter.